There was silence when the foreman ceased speaking, while Inspector Burnley, in his painstaking way, considered the statement he had heard, as well as that made by Broughton earlier in the day. He reviewed the chain of events in detail, endeavouring to separate out the undoubted facts from what might be only the narrator’s opinions. If the two men were to be believed, and Burnley had no reason for doubting either, the facts about the discovery and removal of the cask were clear, with one exception. There seemed to be no adequate proof that the cask really did contain a corpse. ‘Mr. Broughton tells me he thought there was a body in the cask. Do you agree with that, Mr. Harkness?’ ‘Yes, sir, there’s no doubt of it. We both saw a woman’s hand.’ ‘But might it not have been a statue? The cask was labelled ‘Statuary,’ I understand.’ ‘No, sir, it wasn’t no statue. Mr. Broughton thought that at first, but when ’e looked at it again ’e gave in I was right. It was a body, sure enough.’ Further questions showed that both men were convinced the hand was real, though neither could advance any grounds for their belief other than that he ‘knew from the look of it.’ The Inspector was not satisfied that their opinion was correct, though he thought it probable. He also noted the possibility of the cask containing a hand only or perhaps an arm, and it passed through his mind that such a thing might be backed by a medical student as a somewhat gruesome practical joke. Then he turned to Harkness again. ‘Have you the letter Felix gave you on the _Bullfinch_?’ ‘Yes, sir,’ replied the foreman, handing it over. It was written in what looked like a junior clerk’s handwriting on a small-sized sheet of business letter paper. It bore the I. and C.’s ordinary printed heading, and read:-- ‘_5th April, 1912_. ‘MR. HARKNESS, on s.s. _Bullfinch_, St. Katherine’s Docks. ‘Re Mr. Broughton’s conversation with you about cask for Mr. Felix. ‘I have seen Mr. Broughton and Mr. Felix on this matter, and am satisfied the cask is for Mr. Felix and should be delivered immediately. ‘On receipt of this letter please hand it over to Mr. Felix without further delay. ‘As the Company is liable for its delivery at the address it bears, please accompany it as the representative of the Company, and report to me of its safe arrival in due course. ‘For the I. and C. S. N. Co., Ltd., ‘X. Avery, ‘per X. X., ‘Managing Director.’ The initials shown ‘X’ were undecipherable and were apparently written by a person in authority, though curiously the word ‘Avery’ in the same hand was quite clear. ‘It’s written on your Company’s paper anyway,’ said the Inspector to Broughton. ‘I suppose that heading is yours and not a fake?’ ‘It’s ours right enough,’ returned the clerk, ‘but I’m certain the letter’s a forgery for all that.’